Gaborone United (GU) director, Nicholas Zakhem, has said the Thabo Maponda saga was caused by an administration error from Matebele FC side.
GU and Matebele spent the large part of this transfer window battling for the services of the goal poacher. Maponda had signed with GU while he also penned a two-year contract extension with Matebele. He has spent the transfer window on both sides but the Botswana Football Association (BFA) has since directed that he moves to GU. Zakhem said Matebele failed to follow the procedure as they did not register Maponda's renewed terms on FIFA Connect. He said this meant that the player was a free agent and the Reds are within their rights in the pursuit of the player.
“It was unfortunate that Maponda was under a lot of stress from his last team and he ended up doing what he wanted most, play for Gaborone United, this one is a Gaborone United player. There is no good to sign a player, have a contract with them but you do not put it in the system. When the contact expires and it is not on the system, it means you no longer have a contract with the player,” he said. “So now Matebele had a new contract extended but it was not lodged in the system. In terms of the law at the BFA, it means that the contract does not exist. So the team needs to learn that if you want to do things good and properly, you need to be transparent,” said Zakhem further. Maponda was absent last week as The Reds paraded their new recruits in a press conference held at the club’s training ground due to a family engagement. The new recruits include, left footed centre back, Mannered Matsikidze, midfielder, Boniface Ramolale, forward, Elkanah Nyathi and former Zebras goalkeeper, Ezekiel Morake.
